Clim4Food is GIZ’s internal programme development strategy for food security and climate adaptation. It is designed to be implemented at the national, community and household level.
Clim4Food comprises two proven products: E/PICSA (for decision making) and CRISP (for programme managers to integrate climate risks into agri-food interventions).
EPICSA’s validation as a proven approach to strengthening food security, community resilience and gender inclusion rests on 20+ years of evaluation in 30+ countries.
In addition to its participatory method and consideration of activities beyond agriculture, PICSA is unique in identifying long-term climate variability and change to inform decision-making. IDEMS’ expertise in statistical climatology turns local long-term climate records into practical tools that farmers and agricultural extension services can actually use.
This distinguishes the approach from many other “Big Data” approaches which use satellite data and machine learning to improve short-term weather forecasting. These initiatives not only focus on answering the simplest question farmers ask – “when should I plant my crops?” – but they also generate their answer in foreign data centers using processes detached from the expertise and experience of farmers in the field. Instead of building local capabilities to be sustainable, such services risk undermining hydromet and agrifood systems and reinforcing dependency.
The next stage for EPICSA involves making its climate data system interoperable for any national meteorological service to deliver locally managed intelligence to agricultural communities while retaining data sovereignty over historical national datasets.